I have confirmed my pace chart which, although ambitious, is I hope realistic. I have also done some work on a quick checklist for my support crew to keep tabs on what I’ve eaten, drunk and how fast/slow I’m running.

Running this week has been short and sharp, my legs have felt ready to rock and I’ve been feeling frustrated that I can’t go and blast out a fast 15 miler. I’ll probably only run about 15 miles this week prior to the race.

All that remains is to do a bit more mental preparation, to remain well hydrated over the coming days and to eat a slightly higher proportion of carbs than usual. (There won’t be any massive pasta binges!)

My mileage has dropped from an average of 100 miles per week to around 80 – 85 for the past month. This has been mainly due to external pressures… you know… things other than running (!). I’m not worried about this at all – it should mean that arrive on the starting line fresh and “slightly under-cooked” as opposed to “a bit burnt”.

I’m into my taper now, this means that mileage will drop considerably for the remaining 10 days before the race. I won’t be running it slowly though – the aim is to increase the tempo a bit, so that the pace I’m aiming for at Tooting will seem ridiculously slow. For example, this morning I ran a nice little 4 mile tempo at close to 6:00 pace, this afternoon I may attempt a sub-6 pace.

In between these tempo sessions I will be jogging a few miles very slowly. I will probably try to run every day until the race as I find that my legs complain when I’m not running – they tend to “turn off”.

I’ve just recieved the list of competitors from the lovely Shankara (Race Director). I must admit that I’m a bit daunted by the depth of the field and amazed by the international flavour. There will be runners from Sweden, Norway, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium amongst others. A total of 45 have entered.

There is lots remaining for me to organise. I still need to get on-line and order my gels, Nuun and protein bars. I need to check tentage and camping stove arrangements with Nick and get my blasted iPod Shuffle replaced for the nth time!

I have been working on my pace chart for a few weeks now – and I’m finally fairly confident that I’ve got it right. My crew, and I, will know (to the second) what pace I need to run each lap in. I have broken the race into 4 x 6hr sections with a pace and distance goal for each section. This takes into account a controlled slowing and walking breaks.

Most of my training from now until race day will be mental. By that, I mean that it will be psychological – I don’t mean that I will be running crazy mileage!

I will copy a post I made on RunningAhead about mental preparation in another post.

Have had contact with a few others who will be running in Tooting – Lee Chamberlain (who has just broken the World Record for 7 days on a treadmill – you need to get out more Lee), Anth Courtney and a few others. I also recognise many other names: Ken Fancett (of course), Robin Gardner (who was just behind me at Crawley), Reima Hartikainen (Swedish international who performed well at the World Championships), Stefan Lindvall (another Swede who consistently performs well), Smiler Sid, Geoff Oliver (multiple world record holder at aged 76!!!), Richard Quennell (won the Draycote 35 and was 2nd at Faversham), Carl Sommer (33 min 10k man with 3 24hr races under his belt).

The Badwater Ultra Marathon describes itself as “the world’s toughest foot race”. It is a 135 mile (215 km) course starting at 282 feet (85 m) below sea level in the Badwater Basin, in California’s Death Valley, and ending at an elevation of 8360 feet (2548 m) at Whitney Portal, the trailhead to Mount Whitney. It usually happens in July, when the weather conditions are most extreme and temperatures over 120 F (49 C) in the shade are not uncommon. Consequently, very few people — even among ultramarathoners—are capable of finishing this race.

The Marathon des Sables is a six-day, 254 km (156 mile) ultra, which is the equivalent to five and 1/2 regular marathons. The longest single stage (2009) is 91 km (55 miles) long. The event is held every year in the southern Moroccan desert. Competitors must carry all personal belongings and food for the entire event in their backpack. During the 1994 race, Italian police officer Mauro Prosperi lost his way during a sand storm and wandered lost for more than 9 days, losing over 13 kg (30 lb) of body weight.

The Sri Chinmoy 3100 Mile Race is the world’s longest certified race. Competitors seek to negotiate 5649 laps of a .5488 of a mile course (883 meters) in New York, in the timespan of 51 days; this requires an average of over 60 miles a day.

The Barkley Marathons is a 100 mile race essentially composed of five 20-mile laps. With almost 53,000 feet of climbing and descent, all on what can only be marginally called a trail. Since the race started in 1986, only 6 out of over 600 runners have ever finished the course.

Very interested to hear the views of other ultra runners, particularly those who have completed some or all of the above. Also interested to hear the views of those who have not run one, and maybe don’t run at all – to understand what peoples’ perceptions are!

I’m sure I have left out some tough races – so click “other” if you think there is one which tops the list!

An extraordinary race is taking place at the moment in Flushing Meadow, New York.

The 6 and 10 day races are, in my opinion, second only in utter lunacy to the extraordinary 3100 mile race, also held in New York.

Crazy people

This year the 3100 miler will be run from 14 Jun until 04 Aug. It is the world’s longest certified race. Runners have to negotiate 5649 laps of an 883 meter loop in 51 days, requiring an average of over 60 miles a day. Anway, I’ll post more on the 3100 miler later, and perhaps discuss my dream of doing this one day.

In the women’s 6 day race an epic battle is developing between previous champion, Dipali Cunningham, and Badwater champion Pam Reed. As I write, Dipali leads by just 3 miles. Pam will not give up without a decent fight, but Dipali is the pre-eminent women’s multi day racer in the world.

Pam Reed

Dipali Cunningham, 50 years old, from Melbourne Australia

In the meantime, here are a couple of great links to the 6 and 10 day races: